Lean on Me
by Stixer111
Summary: "Kamitani-kun is a good friend, huh? We couldn't make him leave your side until your temperature went down."


_**A/N- Anon on tumblr asked: "Can i plz has a Hayaryuu sick fic. Hayato taking care of a sick Ryuuichi~ (established relationship or not it's your choice)." So I am a sucker for sick fic. I hope this meets your expectations!**_

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When Ryuuichi woke up that morning, there was an itch in his throat that no amount of coughing could subside. After his 5th attempt at clearing his throat at the breakfast table, Saikawa had offered him a hot ginger and honey tea and advised him to stay home from school that day. Ryu took the tea, but politely declined the offer to stay in bed. A sore throat wasn't too serious, really. That was his first mistake.

The walk to school seemed longer than usual, due partially to the biting autumn wind that blew strongly against them. Ryuuichi picked up Kotaro and held him tightly against his chest, half afraid that the little boy would get blown away by the wind. He felt his brother shiver a little against him, despite the extra jacket the two of them wore. Without stopping to think, Ryu used his free hand to unwind the scarf from his neck and wrap it around Kotaro, who sighed in contentment and snuggled closer. They continued their walk, and Ryuuichi ignored the chill on his neck and the heaviness in his legs. That was mistake number two.

The real nail in the coffin, however, was gym first hour, before the sun had been out long enough to really warm up the ground. Ryuuichi and his classmates stood huddled together, shivering in shorts and thin t-shirts, waiting for their warmups to start. Even Kamitani looked mildly uncomfortable. The boys chatted aimlessly in an effort to distract themselves from the bone-deep chill. Ryu found himself zoning in and out of the conversation around him, his ears filled with a strange sort of buzzing noise.

"Man, its cold! I wish the day care kids were out on a walk again today! Think you can do anything about that Kashima?" Usokawa asked with a grin, playfully elbowing him in the ribs hard enough to make him stumble.

Normally, Ryuuichi would just laugh in response. Today however his vision swam, the world tilted on its axis, and the last thing he saw was Kamitani's panicked expression before everything went black.

XXX

When Ryuuichi woke up he was lying down in the nurse's office, and Kamitani was sitting on the counter across from him, reading his magazine. Ryu blinked the sleep from his eyes and tried to sit up. He let out a soft groan, and Kamitani and the nurse were by his side in a second.

"How are you feeling Kashima-kun?" asked the nurse as she held a glass of water to his lips, Kamitani hovering behind her. He seemed as emotionless as ever, but his furrowed brow gave away his worry.

"Heavy. And warm all over." said Ryu, gratefully accepting the drink.

"Well that is to be expected. You seem to have caught a variant of the flu."

Ryu nodded, before catching Kamitani's eye.

"Thanks for staying with me Kamitani, sorry for the inconvenience."

"Don't worry about it. I got to skip class for this." He replied, before heading back to his spot on the counter and Ryuuichi felt a strange stab of disappointment at the casual statement. The nurse seemed to notice.

"Kamitani-kun is a good friend, huh? We couldn't make him leave your side until your temperature went down." she said with a smile and wink as she tucked the blanket around his chin.

He shot a glance towards the counter where Kamitani was seemingly absorbed in his magazine. But upon closer inspection, Ryu could see the other boy sneaking glances towards him out of the corner of his eye. Feeling suddenly at ease, he closed his eyes and settled into another deep sleep.

XXX

Ryu woke up to soft sunlight playing across face and a comfortable weight against his waist. He stretched backwards languidly, then froze as he collided with something solid and warm. There was a soft groan and he manoeuvred himself into a better position for observation, letting out a high pitched squeak when he identified the obstacle. There, just inches from his own face was Kamitani, sleeping peacefully with his arm around Ryu's waist. Shirtless. As Kamitani's eyes fluttered open, he shoved himself backwards, spluttering.

"K-kamitani, I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean-"

Instead of looking flustered, Kamitani smiled sleepily and pulled him closer.

"Shhh Ryu, go back to sleep. It's too early to be awake."

"Huh?"

"Taka and Kotaro are sleeping over with the twins, and we rarely get to sleep in."

"HUH!?"

The sleepy haze cleared from Kamitani's eyes, and he looked at Ryu in confusion. He propped himself up on his elbow and reached out with his free hand to cup Ryu's face.

"My love, are you feeling okay?"

Ryu rocketed backwards until he slammed into the wall, his face turning a deep scarlet. Kamitani's confused expression turned into one of worry.

"Ryu?" he asked quietly.

Ryu's heart was thumping so loudly he almost missed him.

"Ryu?" asked Kamitani "Ryu wake up."

Wait. That was an odd thing to say.

"You need to wake up, Kashima"

Suddenly the world snapped into focus, and Ryu found himself looking at a puzzled, fully clothed, Kamitani. Oh. So it was a dream. Why he was having absurdly domestic dreams about Kamitani was something he wasn't quite ready to think about.

"Kashima, are you okay? You were making some strange noises."

"Hurk."

Kamitani looked even more concerned. Ryu swallowed, trying hard to forget the phantom sensation of those long fingers so gentle against his cheek. He was failing.

"Kashima you're turning red. Is the fever coming back? Should I call the nurse?"

"N-no, I'm okay."

"Oh. By the way are you hungry? That weird butler of yours dropped off some porridge if you want."

"He's a secretary… I think."

"Of course." Kamitani quirked an eyebrow, even as his mouth quirked into a smile.

Even the half smile was too much for Ryu's already flustered mind, and he quickly looked away.

"I- I think I'll sleep instead."

"Okay. Move over."

"What?"

"Move over, we can both fit."

Was he having another dream? He stared at Kamitani in confusion.

"You're supposed to keep warm when you're sick, right? It'll help if I sleep with you."

Ryuuichi was sure his eyes were bugging out of his head, and Kamitani flushed, realizing what he'd said.

"Not sleep with you! I mean sleep next to you! In the same bed!"

Ryu decided not to point out that that was hardly better. He should have refused, at least on the grounds that Kamitani would definitely catch whatever Ryu had if he stayed so close, but a large part of him, the part that came up with fluffy domestic dreams, prompted him to quietly move over. Kamitani folded himself into the offered space, and Ryu turned towards the wall to give him more room. He felt a pair of strong arms wrap around him and he was sure he stopped breathing for a moment.

"Is this okay?" asked Kamitani a low voice in his ear, and if Ryu shivered it was definitely because his fever was coming back, and nothing else.

He let his eyes close as he relaxed against Kamitani's chest. He was warm. It was nice.

"Just keep your shirt on this time." He mumbled sleepily.

He was pretty sure he heard a strangled noise as he drifted off to sleep.

XXX

Ryuuichi woke up to the sound of a camera shutter. His eyes snapped open, and he could tell that Kamitani was still asleep next to him by the arm draped around his middle and the soft snores by his ear. The camera clicked again, and Ryu shot into a sitting position, accidentally elbowing Kamitani's face in the process. As he muttered a quick apology to the other boy, he finally located the source of the noise. Usaida was leaning against the door, camera in hand, and grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"Delete that or I'll send you flying." said Kamitani evenly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"You don't scare me." Usaida replied, sticking out his tongue. "Anyway, I just came by to drop off this card the kids made," He said, holding up a glittery construction paper monstrosity that Ryu was going to keep pinned to his wall forever "but I guess you're well on your way to getting better already. Sorry to interrupt!" He exclaimed in a sing-song voice, practically skipping out the door in in glee.

Ryu groaned. That man was worse than the kids sometimes. He fell backwards against the pillow with a half-hearted chuckle.

"Sorry about that, I'll get him to delete the pictures later." He said turning his head towards Kamitani. His friend looked at him fondly.

"Kashima, go back to sleep." Kamitani's eyes were already closing. Ryu lay down, melting into his arms, and let sleep overtake him with a small smile playing on his lips.

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 _ **A/N- Ryu recovered soon after, but Kamitani was sick for a week. Ahhhhh I meant to have this written yesterday, but life got in the way, sorry! Anyway since I've made a small promise to myself to write more this year, and also to maybe expand this little corner of fandom as much as I can, I am open to taking prompts. I'm bards-against-hoomanity on tumblr. I won't write anything that's ships an adult with a minor (I don't care what the age of consent is in Japan) or a similar age gap (i.e. teen with child), and I'm very uncomfortable writing smut, but anything else is good to go.**_


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